The Government of Mexico currently has 30 Agreements for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (APPRIs) signed around the world, so that many companies in the energy sector that do not belong to the North American region also have access to a dispute resolution mechanism.
Among the countries with which Mexico has signed APPRIS are Germany, China, Korea, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Turkey, among others.
“These treaties provide for a mechanism for the settlement of disputes between investors and countries when any of the provisions of these Guidelines are violated and cause harm to investors’ investments,” it can be read on the website of the Ministry of Economy.
César Guerra, Director of Trade & Access Consulting, noted in an interview that each of these agreements for the protection of foreign investments is different from each other, and therefore the agreement signed with Spain or France is not the same, but an option through which companies like Iberdrola can.
“They can use the BIA if they feel their investment is being harmed by the Mexican government’s measures. They can activate the provisions in those BITs to see if they have a case and file a claim.
The specialist noted that this may be an option for companies that do not belong to the Treaty between Mexico, the United States and Canada (T-MEC), especially those of European origin.
According to the Ministry of Economy, the four countries that invest most in the Mexican energy sector are the United States (Sembra LNG), Spain (Iberdrola), Canada (Pelican) and Italy (Enel).
Cesar Guerra added that although negotiations for the new Mexico-EU Free Trade Agreement (TLCUEM) have already concluded, its entry into force will take some time, so the agreement signed in 2000 is still valid.
“However, the current agreement with the EU does not contain an investment section or an STC section, the chapters in which the US and Canada have been able to exercise their claims,” he said.
The specialist noted that negotiations on the new trade agreement between the United Kingdom and Mexico may be difficult, as a treaty very similar to the T-MEC is also scheduled to be signed with them, “Mexico will have to decide whether to go and indicated the reversal of the kind of concessions that are taking place.” In new generation agreements such as openness to foreign investment.
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